To get Calgary listings on your own WordPress site, you need two things. First, you need a member of an Alberta real estate board who can get a data feed. That can be you or the agent you build for. Second, you need a plugin that pulls that feed onto your own domain. In Calgary, the feed does not come from CREB. It comes from Pillar 9, the company that runs one shared MLS® for most of Alberta. There is a second way in: CREA’s REALTOR.ca DDF feed (the national listing feed). MLS Import connects to DDF today. That lets you put Calgary homes on your site while the Pillar 9 paperwork moves.
We checked the facts on this page in October 2026. Pillar 9 does not publish its website feed rules or fees where we could read them. Some numbers below come from other website vendors, and we say so each time.
What is Pillar 9?
Pillar 9 is the shared MLS® system for most of Alberta. It is the trade name of Alberta One Realty Listing Services Inc. It is a for-profit company that owns and runs one listing database for its member boards. Nine Alberta real estate boards and the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA) founded it. The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) is one of them (CREB®Now, August 18, 2020, CREB About).
The basics:
- It went live in spring 2020. A March 2020 Pillar 9 announcement said its services would launch “that spring.”
- It runs on Matrix™. Matrix is the search program agents log into. Its listing fields follow the industry’s shared list of field names, so a home’s price or bedroom count has the same label everywhere.
- It is for members only. Pillar 9’s FAQ says you must belong to a subscribed Alberta board or association to use its technology and services (Pillar 9 FAQ).
- It is big. In 2020, CREB said the system served Alberta’s “10,000-plus” REALTORS®. That count is from 2020, so today’s number may be different.
Who runs the MLS in Calgary: CREB or Pillar 9?
CREB runs the board, and Pillar 9 runs the MLS® data. CREB says it has over 8,600 licensed REALTORS® and calls itself a “founding partner of Pillar 9™ Technologies, providing REALTORS® access to a province-wide MLS® System” (CREB About).
So to get CREB listings on your website, you need a Pillar 9 feed, and a Calgary feed is an Alberta feed. Our Canadian MLS guide says: “A developer targeting Calgary is realistically targeting the Alberta provincial system rather than a CREB-only feed.”
If you work beyond city limits, one feed can cover the towns around Calgary too.
Who does what:
- CREB is your contact as a member.
- Pillar 9 approves and runs the website feed.
- Your broker signs the paperwork.
Which Alberta boards are on Pillar 9?
Most Alberta boards share listings through Pillar 9, and Edmonton is the big exception. Pillar 9 does not publish its list of nine founding boards anywhere we could read it. The table below shows which boards website vendors say their Pillar 9 feeds cover (checked October 2026).
| Board | Where vendors say its website feed comes from |
|---|---|
| Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) | Pillar 9 (CREB confirms it is a founding partner) |
| Alberta West | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Central Alberta (CARA) | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Fort McMurray | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Grande Prairie | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Lethbridge | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Medicine Hat | Pillar 9 (vendor lists) |
| Lloydminster | Pillar 9 (one vendor lists it) |
| South Central Alberta | Pillar 9 (one vendor lists it) |
| REALTORS® Association of Edmonton (RAE) | RAE’s own system, not Pillar 9 |
Pillar 9’s FAQ says RAE is not a founding shareholder of Pillar 9. Instead, RAE shares listing data with Pillar 9 through an agreement with AREA. RAE runs its own MLS on a system called Paragon. One vendor, RealtyNinja, lists Edmonton as a direct RAE feed and every other Alberta board as a Pillar 9 feed.
We could not confirm whether a Pillar 9 website feed includes Edmonton homes. If you need both cities, ask Pillar 9 in writing. Our REALTORS Association of Edmonton page covers the Edmonton side.
Want Calgary and Edmonton on one site? Plan on two feeds until Pillar 9 tells you otherwise in writing. Read Can I connect two MLS boards to one website? before you promise a client both cities.
Pillar 9 IDX or VOW: which feed do I need?
Pillar 9 offers two kinds of website feed. The IDX feed is public. Anyone can see the homes, but you get no sold listings. The VOW feed (short for “virtual office website”, a sign-in feed) shows more homes, extra details and sold listings, but visitors must register before they can see those extras.
An Alberta website vendor, myRealPage, explained the difference in a post last updated March 7, 2025:
| IDX feed (public) | VOW feed (sign-in) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can see it | Anyone | Registered visitors for the extra fields |
| Sold listings | No | Yes |
| Extra fields | No | Days on market, taxes, assessed value, possession date |
| Number of listings | Fewer | More |
| Default on that vendor’s plans | No | Yes |
| Cost on that vendor’s plans | Base price | About $3 a month more |
If you start on the sign-in feed and switch to IDX later, you must remove every sold listing from your site. The same post says Pillar 9 does not profit from these fees.
How to choose:
- Pick IDX if you want a simple public search with no login wall.
- Pick the sign-in feed if your buyers want sold prices and you’re okay asking them to register.
Either way, Pillar 9 and your broker have to say yes first.
How to apply for a Pillar 9 website feed
Your brokerage signs a Pillar 9 agreement, Pillar 9 reviews it, and the feed goes live once it’s approved. Pillar 9 does not publish these steps or a developer guide that we could find. Here is how one Alberta vendor, Remarketer, describes it in its setup FAQ:
- The agreement arrives by DocuSign. DocuSign is an online signing tool. You type in your brokerage name and your website address.
- Your brokerage signs. You must belong to an Alberta board on Pillar 9. A US license alone is not enough.
- Pillar 9 reviews it. Pillar 9 does not publish a timeline. Read MLS approval processes that take time so you can set your client’s expectations.
- The feed goes live after approval. Before it does, settle who holds the login keys. See Who needs to hold the credentials.
Put your real domain on the form, not a test address. If you move to a new domain later, you’ll have more paperwork to do.
How much does a Pillar 9 feed cost?
Pillar 9 does not publish a price list for website feeds that we could find. Vendors pass on fees that run from about $3 to $10 a month, and some add a one-time setup fee. The amounts are probably Canadian dollars. Only one vendor names a currency.
| Vendor | Pillar 9 fee they pass on | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| myRealPage | About +$3 a month for the sign-in feed | Says Pillar 9 does not profit on these fees |
| RealtyNinja | $5 a month or $60 a year | Same fee for CREB and the other Pillar 9 boards |
| IDX Broker | $10 a month plus a $35 connection fee | Says it offers no sold data; currency not stated |
| Showcase IDX | No amount given | Says the MLS may charge a monthly fee |
These are vendor prices, not Pillar 9’s own price sheet, and they don’t agree with each other. Before you buy anything, ask Pillar 9 in writing what it charges for a feed to your own domain.
Then add your plugin. MLS Import is $49 a month after a 30-day free trial, or $504 a year. That price does not include fees from Pillar 9, CREB, AREA or CREA, or your board dues. Ask your board for its current dues.
For the full picture, read MLS plugin pricing: what an IDX setup actually costs.
Three ways to get Calgary listings on a WordPress site
There are three ways in, and you may use more than one. DDF works with MLS Import today. A Pillar 9 feed goes deeper in Calgary. Edmonton needs its own RAE feed.
| Way in | Which homes you get | Who signs | Where MLS Import stands today |
|---|---|---|---|
| REALTOR.ca DDF (national feed) | Alberta homes from brokerages that opted in. Active listings only | Your brokerage opts in | Connected. See our DDF credentials guide |
| Pillar 9 feed (IDX or sign-in) | Calgary and Alberta homes Pillar 9 allows on websites. Solds on the sign-in feed | Your brokerage signs, Pillar 9 approves | Not on our list yet. See “Does MLS Import support Pillar 9?” below |
| RAE feed (Edmonton) | Greater Edmonton homes | RAE and your brokerage | Connected. See the Edmonton guide |
DDF only carries listings from brokerages that opted in, so it may not show every Calgary home. Our Canadian MLS guide suggests checking whether DDF already covers enough of Calgary before you start a second application.
How to get Calgary listings on WordPress with MLS Import today
Start with DDF. It works right now, and it puts real Calgary homes on your own domain while you wait on Pillar 9.
- Ask your broker to opt in to DDF. Get the yes in writing.
- Get your DDF keys from CREA. Our DDF credentials guide shows you how.
- Install MLS Import and connect. Choose REALTOR.ca, paste your keys and run the connection test. See Connecting your MLS in the wizard.
- Filter to Calgary. DDF covers all of Canada, so filter your import down to the area you work. Controlling which listings are imported shows the filter screen.
- Run a small test import. Check prices, photos and status on your phone before you go big. Your first test import walks you through it.
After that, MLS Import checks for changes every hour. Each home becomes a real page on your own domain, with no iframe and no subdomain. See how daily reconciliation works for how homes that leave the feed get cleaned up. DDF has its own display rules, and our DDF guide covers them.
Before you promise a client “every home in Calgary”, count what DDF really carries. Run a Calgary filter, write down the total, and compare it to REALTOR.ca. If the gap is too big for your client, that’s your case for the Pillar 9 feed.
Does MLS Import support Pillar 9?
Not as a one-click choice yet, and we won’t pretend it is. Pillar 9 is not in the MLS list in MLS Import today. For Calgary homes, DDF works right now. Below is how we can add Pillar 9.
MLS Import reads one modern feed type, the RESO Web API (the newer standard that replaced the old RETS feed). One vendor’s page still lists the Pillar 9 feed as RETS. That page may be out of date, and we could not confirm what Pillar 9 hands out to member websites today.
Our policy for MLS servers that aren’t on our list is on My MLS runs a server you do not support yet. We connect them for active clients at no extra cost. It usually takes a couple of days once we have working keys. The 30-day trial counts as active, and we’ll extend it if the work runs long.
To be the first Calgary site on MLS Import:
- Ask Pillar 9 in writing: “Do you issue a RESO Web API feed for a member’s own website? Who signs, what does it cost, and what keys do you issue?”
- Apply with your brokerage’s signature and your real domain on the form.
- Send us the keys and any notes Pillar 9 gave you. Our support page shows how.
- We connect it, test it against the live feed, and add Pillar 9 to your MLS list.
If Pillar 9 only offers the older format, DDF stays your MLS Import route to Calgary homes, and we keep working on the Pillar 9 side with you. Read RESO vs RETS if you want to know why the format matters.
What rules does my Calgary site have to follow?
You follow Pillar 9’s feed rules, CREB’s board rules and your brokerage’s advertising rules. We could not find Pillar 9’s or CREB’s current official display rulebook. Get the rules in writing before you build.
What we did find:
- A credit line on each listing. A Century 21 listing in Calgary shows “Listing Courtesy of: PILLAR 9 – IDX.”
- An older vendor summary. One undated reseller summary of CREB rules lists these: show the listing office on search results, add a last-updated date and a disclaimer, and show no more than 500 results per search and 50 per page. This may be out of date.
- A login for solds. On the sign-in feed, visitors must register to see sold data.
MLS Import has the settings these rules need: attribution fields, display rules and internet flags, and closed and off-market listing controls. Following the rules is still up to you and your broker. See IDX compliance.
What is going on between CREB, RAE and AREA?
There is a lawsuit, but it does not change how you get a feed today. Real Estate Magazine reported on February 12, 2026 that AREA and its CEO filed a claim on January 19 in Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench. The claim names CREB, RAE and several of their leaders (REM).
- AREA alleges that CREB and RAE “organized” to have AREA’s Pillar 9 shares moved to RAE. None of the allegations are proven.
- CREB and RAE each denied the allegations.
- CREB said the case won’t affect its “day-to-day business.”
- Background: CREB members voted down a merger with AREA on March 15, 2023, with 1,526 members voting (CREB release).
If who owns Pillar 9 ever changes, Alberta’s feed map could change too. We’ll update this page if it does.
Frequently asked questions about Calgary MLS listings on WordPress
I’m a US developer building a site for a Calgary agent. Can I get the feed myself?
No. Pillar 9 says you must belong to a subscribed Alberta board or association to use its services. Your client’s brokerage signs the agreement, and you build the site. Have the client put the real domain on the form, not a test address.
Can I show sold listings in Calgary on my website?
Yes, with Pillar 9’s sign-in feed (the VOW feed), and visitors must register to see sold data. The public IDX feed does not carry solds, and DDF carries active listings only. If you switch from the sign-in feed to IDX later, you must remove every sold listing from your site.
Do I need my broker’s permission to put Calgary listings on my own site?
Yes. For a Pillar 9 feed, your brokerage signs the agreement and Pillar 9 approves it. For DDF, your brokerage has to opt in. No plugin can skip this step, including MLS Import.
Why does my site show fewer Calgary homes than REALTOR.ca?
DDF only carries listings from brokerages that opted in, and it carries active listings only. A Pillar 9 feed goes deeper in Calgary. Also check your import filters, because a filter that’s too tight can drop homes you expect to see.
Can I put Calgary and Edmonton homes on one WordPress site?
Yes, but plan on two feeds. Edmonton’s board, RAE, is not a Pillar 9 founding shareholder and runs its own MLS. MLS Import connects to RAE today. DDF can also carry homes from both cities when brokerages opt in.
How long does it take to get Calgary listings live?
It depends on the approvals. Pillar 9 does not publish a timeline for website feeds, and DDF timing depends on your brokerage and CREA. Once you have working keys, setting up the MLS Import side is quick. For a server we don’t support yet, we usually connect it within a couple of days of getting working keys.
Is Pillar 9 the same as CREB?
No. CREB is the Calgary board, with over 8,600 licensed REALTORS®. Pillar 9 is Alberta One Realty Listing Services Inc., the company that runs the shared MLS® for CREB and other Alberta boards. CREB is your member contact, and Pillar 9 approves the website feed.
Related guides for Alberta and Canada
- The big picture: Canadian MLS data, explained
- Edmonton: REALTORS® Association of Edmonton
- Showing two boards: 5 ways to show buyers both MLS boards without a second website
- National feed: DDF plugin for WordPress
- Missing MLS: Your MLS is not in the list
- Other boards: Omni MLS, Victoria and Vancouver Island, Toronto DDF, and all our MLS integration guides
- Before you buy: Requirements before you buy
Do you work in Calgary and already have a Pillar 9 feed with another vendor? Tell us what format it came in and what Pillar 9 charged you. Your answer helps the next Alberta agent who reads this page.
